Institution: Mayo Clinic Arizona
Time spent: 4 weeks
Services: GI, CNS, GYN, Lung, Breast, GU. During my rotation I worked with one attending for 2 weeks, and a second attending for 2 weeks. I really enjoyed this schedule since I was able to see patients initially during consultation, help with treatment plans, and see them during OTVs if they had begun treatment. The rotation is quite flexible, and you are able to rotate on various services depending on your level of interest in specific areas. As a newer residency program, the PD and all of the attendings and residents are committed to making sure medical students get the most out of their rotation. Everyone is very open to including med students in interesting cases and learning opportunities throughout the department.
Presentation: A one-hour presentation is given at the conclusion of the rotation, which can be on your topic of choice. I chose to do a combination of a research talk with an area I was interested in. The entire department is invited and there was a great turnout, including all the attending physicians, residents, physics, dosimetry, nursing, and therapy staff. Friendly questioning and discussion follows after the presentation as well. The attending physicians and residents help with the presentation and will gladly go over slides, questions, etc. with you before the talk.
Research: I chose to pursue a research project while I was on my rotation, and I am very glad I was able to do so. I spoke with the Program Director prior to beginning my rotation and set up a research project that he and I felt was feasible to complete during my rotation. They have multiple projects available for medical students to be a part of, and the attendings are more than willing to have medical students involved with research if you would like to.
Role as a student: As a medical student, you will have the opportunity to be involved with seeing new consults, writing H&Ps, seeing OTVs and follow-ups, presenting to the attendings, contouring, and learning fundamental dosimetry/physics. An awesome part of the rotation is being involved with the HDR and all of IORT cases (which are great learning experiences)! Med students also present their new consults during morning conference. I felt as though I had a great amount of responsibility as a student in terms of seeing new patients and presenting my plans to the attendings. Everyone in the department is so friendly and eager to help out and answer questions. During my rotation I wanted to spend time with dosimetry and physics, and everyone was amenable to that, and more than happy to teach. Even after my Away rotation, I contacted a few of the attending physicians and the residents when I had any Rad Onc specific questions.
Didactics: One-on-one didactics with the attendings daily. If I had specific topics of interest or specific questions (including clinical, contouring, and intro physics/rad bio) they would gladly go over those with me. The didactics are appropriately tailored to a medical student level with regard to background knowledge, but also include the most recent and relevant RTOG trials and published literature. There is weekly oncology grand rounds, twice monthly Rad Onc lecture series, and monthly journal club that med students attend. Med students are encouraged to attend the Mayo Clinic Tumor Board meetings, which is a great learning experience as well. Future lectures will also include monthly proton beam lecture series. I also had the chance to go to Peds Tumor Board at Phoenix Children’s Hospital during my rotation. The physics dept. chair is also amazing and he will go over physics lecture topics with medical students as well if you are interested.
Impression: Extremely impressive department and incredibly student-friendly experience. Rotating at Mayo Clinic Arizona will provide a comprehensive introduction to the field of Rad Onc in a supportive and collegial environment. As a newer program, the attendings, residents, and the entire staff are excited to have visiting medical students rotating through. The environment is very conducive to education and learning experiences in the field of Rad Onc. Mayo Clinic is known for its commitment to education, and this was truly the case during my rotation as a medical student. The faculty members and residents are very engaged in teaching. There is ample opportunity to be involved with interesting cases and the attendings will take you with them to see cases as they come up. As a medical student you are a valuable member of the team and are encouraged to be involved with a ton of unique learning opportunities. The PD and Associate PD are outstanding to work with, and wrote me a letter of recommendation for residency at the conclusion of my rotation. I highly recommend considering an Away rotation at Mayo Clinic Arizona, I can’t say enough great things about this program!
Offered an interview: Yes, was offered an interview during the interview season.
